Fresholi | Melting Pot Café

Hi everyone my name is Simon and i am an absolute newbie to lotions and potions and soaps in fact im a complete newbie to anything craft related but have quickley picked up a bit of a passion for it. I found this forum a month ago and i have been spending many a hour reading many of the informative posts, blogs etc etc, i have found lots of information on lots of topics on these boards and i have also been amazed at some of the products some of you make its all been very inspirational and i now know things that never even crossed my mind not so long ago!

I think it might be worth mentioning what started my interest in all things soapy well it was that kirsty's home made crimbo thingy on C4 Im sure as it only touched on the subject of soapmaking it was not very accurate in describing the art as it were but it certainly made me think ( i did not even know you could make your own products as looking at the back of some of them the list of ingredients is almost in a different language) Me and my wife liked the homemade crimbo idea and will probably do it all year for birthdays etc im lucky because she is one amazing cook.
However one aspect stood out more than others thats what lead me here along with an idea i had for promoting my business, im thinking about instead of the normal paper business card or flyer or whatever how about a soapy gift promoting my business ( the business is not linked to soap etc) Because i have never had anything like this posted to me and if i did i would certainley take note of who did. Perhaps some of you will let me know what you think i know it is likley to be costly but i have spent many a hard earned pound on other advertising in lots of different forms and never found anything to work that well because i have lots of competition all doing the same thing so im thinking outside of the box. This way if someone is impressed i may get some work out of it they may tell their friends/family as its something that dosent happen everyday and if not and they dont care or not interested its a gift they can keep and more importantly use, all these other corporate gifts i find just get thrown in the bin along with the paper forms of advertising
Im no stranger to the health and safety and insurances world im sure i would have to have said gift approved licenced etc etc its something my trade and yours has a lot of !
Along with this i am now looking at everything we have in our bathroom and thinking of ways that i could do it myself! and am looking at everything in the shops differently bearing in mind i have never been in a branch of L___ in my life last week my wife thought i was trying to chat up one of the ladies in there because i was asking so many questions about all the products !
Anyway i know its a few days late but heres wishing you all a good 2010 i will try and post when i can as i have no experience in the subjects but i can give a newcomers perspective and i will try to inform others about the mistakes and lessons i learn hopefully it will help someone in the future!

all the best Simon x

Welcome! I hope you enjoy the forum... are you going to try and make your own soaps to send out as gifts? I was approached by an online social media company do produce soaps for them in order to promote their company which I thought was a great idea ... until they realised they'd actually have to pay for them and that I wasn't going to give them away for free!!

I think it's a wonderful idea still and it's got a real personal touch.  Is your day to day business related in some fashion? It's just, a soap might be rather a random thing if say, you're a lawyer or something. 

Welcome Simon - that must be the longest introduction we've ever had!!

You'll find lots of help and info here - particularly if you make a few more posts when further boards will open up to you (plus more topics on the main site).

A Soap "Business Card" wouldn't be terribly expensive - obviously it would when compared with a printed card - but would stand out amongst keyrings and fridgemagnets etc.

Hello Simon -  welcome to the forum, and great to have another chap onboard!

Hi Simon
I hope as a newbie we can inspire you to have a go at making your own products. It's very rewarding and totally addictive.
Welcome to the forum, just yelp if you need a hand and someone's sure to help  :)

Hi Simon and welcome.

What has tweaked you interest, where would you like to start?

Eire

Yup - when you look at all the run of the mill Corporate Gifts.

(although Sha's OH could print you off some Tshirts or "green" shopping bags)

Welcome!  :buttrf:

Welcome Simon and thank you for the great intro, it was really nice to read  :)  First of all, I have to say that your pic of Becky and yourself is just lovely.

I too think it is a really good idea (although I am not sure of the line of business you are in but I am sure there must be a connection for you between that and the soap biz cards).  You would need a safety assessment though (Scott's your man for that  ;)).

I am not experienced in making soaps (had a go though at most methods) but you are right, it is amazing to gaze at the remarkable creations of those that do.   

It is good to have you here and like EJ said, if you post a bit more, more boards will open up to you  :)

Again, a warm welcome  :buttrf:

Welcome Simon.

As a relatively new member on here I can say that this is the best forum I;ve been on - friendly, knowledgeable and everyone is more than willing to share their advice and offer tips.

AND, it is truely addictive - you'll spend a fortune on supplies as you try experiment, then order more because you get another set of creative ideas. It's a spendaholics dream hobby!

Enjoy

Welcome Simon

 :)

Welcome to the Fresholi forum Simon!  :buttrf:

Welcome Simon, you'll find a wealth of information on here and everyone is willing to share which is fab

Welcome aboard! It is a really friendly place, you'll soon feel at home.

This is what i was thinking about, this way i can do as many or as few as i need and with a bit of planning can get the ammounts that i need and when i need them


I get sent loads of things like this and never use them with the exeption of the pens but i never look at them to see who its from.Im looking into costing to see how likley this is going to be and i suppose the time involved with it too Becky my wife is happy to help with the production of them. Also there are certain types of paper card that cost a lot too i have tried them and had rubbish results


not really a connection I install bathrooms and kitchens and carry out specialist tiling jobs for other firms too (im a carpenter by trade but branched out into all this ) i have been doing it for 10 years now and i still enjoy the work i have found that in trying to keep busy in the crunch i have spent a hell of a lot doing it. I have been busy still but it has cost alot more getting it if that makes sense. There are lots of other firms doing what i do and everyone seems to advertise in the same way so i was trying to do some thing that stood out

Im only thinking of doing one type of soap just to make it a bit easier and im sure i could get away with making it a bit smaller than the standard sizes but it would have to be big enough for some sort of wording etc etc

And on another note i think ill look into hair care as my wife has lovely curly hair but she would call it horrible and frizzy so she spends a fair bit on various products to help her so being able to do something for this would be good

thanks to you all for taking the time to welcome me here
Simon x

Welcome.  You are bound to have fun and find lots of useful information here.

Hello and welcome!

Hello Simon and welcome to the forum :D

I have made business cards for a client's special event and he says they went down really well with his customers so it's definitely a very good idea. You can get paper suitable for printing on then transferring to soap but I do agree it's good to have a printed card too as soap doesn't last forever. I supplied them wrapped in fabric with a card which seemed to work. You're right though, there are MANY different ways you can play it and make it your 'own'.

There are also different ways of making soap so it would be best to decide on the type you want to make, get some ingredients in and have a play around with them!

Helen's right, you will need a safety assessment for the soap and Scott on here is the man to get you that :D

Anything you need, just ask and one of us here will happily help you.

Kevin

P.S. I really like your avatar - beautiful picture!

Ooh.... how about having laminated business cards and embedding them into M&P transparent soap, so the details can be seen - they will get a constant reminder each time they use it (scent and colour can do incredibly sublime things to the subconscious - maybe a bit of research into colour therapy principles and perhaps using carefully selected essential oils) and then they have something that contains your details that they can keep. 

I think the soap card is the brilliant idea considering the line of business you are in  :)

Ooooh, that's a good idea Helen!!

Kevin x

Ooh, brill idea helen. Like it.  :)

that is a brilliant idea i was initially thinking about printing the wrapper or something im sure this will have to be tried out at some stage

as for what process of making i have no idea yet im going to have a play around with a few types and i will post them when it happens ( hopefully not too long into the future!)

Thanks for confirming about the assesment side of things i did assume i would need it. also would a normal public liability insurance be ok or are there any other specific ones i need

thanks for all your thoughts on this subject its all really appreciated

Craftsman Insurance scheme is excellent Simon - administered by Ian Wallace - just google and you will find the details - cover starts at about £70 per year

You may find that you need a specialist PL insurer, Simon. You'll also need product liability. Ian Wallace are one of the few left who will cover craft cosmetics makers, they'll do cover for both. Some others on here may know of other insurers.  :)

Scott beat me to that, but i posted anyway!  ;)

Hiya

I was reading your post the other day (sorry I didn't say hello, I can be a bit rude at times..) and I was thinking of this:

Soap Queen TV - water soluble paper in M&P soap
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQQ34x (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQQ34x)

I think soap goes absolutely perfect with a bathroom installer, just watch out, once the wife has seen a couple of Soap Queen TV episodes, she will get the bug and you will come home after a hard days work, expecting dinner and instead get "Honey, look at all the soap I made"  :mwaha:

Welcome Simon ;D

thanks for the link and what a good idea i never would have thouht it was possible to do this and what about the picture ones etc i wonder if this sort of thing would be a good idea for some of you guys to offer? as when you go to photo places you can get your pictures on anything like mugs bags callendars etc so why not soaps!

as for the dinner vs soap i can see that happening but i do my share of the cooking/chores too so i might just get more chances to set off the smoke alarm!

Howlooo!
Sorry I'm a bit late saying velcome to my home - better late than never  :mwaha:

Lol, only problem will be that most of the kitchen will be used for various soap making things and the local take-awy will be your best friend ;-)

I have plans with this embedded photo thing. So far I have not been able to find that soluble paper in the UK, the closest I was able to source is de-cal paper, which would probably work as well. I might be doing an order from Brambleberry in the US for that paper, fancy jumping on board and we share p&p ?

Welcome Simon and Becky!

Have lots of fun on here ;)

Welcome! :hi:

I think your soap gift idea is great - but be warned next thing you know it you'll be making creams or candles too! :mwaha:

This site is very addictive and inspiring.  Hope you join us often & keep us up to date on your progress. :)

hi simon  :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: :hi: